Adjustable shower head



p 3, 1969 R. G. PARKISQN 3,468,483

ADJUSTABLE SHOWER HEAD Filed May 2, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet l RICHARD G.PARKISON BY 0 ua/M ATTORNEY Sept. 23, 1969 R. s. PARKISON 3,463,433

ADJUSTABLE SHOWER HEAD Filed May 2, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 JNVENTOR.RICHARD G. PARKISON ATTORNEY United States Patent Office 3,468,483Patented Sept. 23, 1969 3,468,483 ADJUSTABLE SHOWER HEAD Richard G.Parkison, Louisville, Ky., assignor to American Standard Inc., acorporation of Delaware Filed May 2, 1967, Ser. No. 635,465 Int. Cl.B05b 1/32, 1/26 U.S. Cl. 239-460 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Anadjustable shower head for the distribution of liquids having a controlhandle for regulating the flow of the spray. The control handle iscounterbalanced against the forward pressure of the liquid on the showerhead nozzle for all line pressures by utilizing a balance piston coupledto the control handle and communicative to the liquid to counteract theforward pressure of the fluid.

This invention relates to an improved shower head mechanism.

More specifically, this invention relates to a shower head having afingertouch control for dispersing the spray from its nozzle for animproved distribution over a broad range of line pressures.

In the construction of shower heads, and particularly those applicablefor use in installations where it is desirable to maintain a restrictedand controlled flow of water for distribution over tubs and the like,considerable effort has been expended to provide a unit which willproduce a confined spray, the center area of which is distributedsubstantially evenly. Moreover, it. is desirable to provide a showerhead having a control arm for regulating the velocity and flow of thewater exiting from the nozzle while maintaining the spray over an evenlydistributed area for a variety of line pressure adjustments.

In conventional shower heads control adjustments are provided forregulating the flow and velocity of the spray by constricting one ormore openings of the nozzles at the outlet of the spray head. Dependingon the construction of these types of shower heads, the water pressurehas a tendency to operate the control valve to either move the nozzlesand their respective openings outward to increase the flow of water, orto move the coupling surrounding the nozzles outwardly to shut off thenozzle valves. This diificulty is overcome by applying a high frictionaldrag to the control arm in the form of a gland packing type seal so asto frictionally bias the rotational movement produced by the waterpressure against the internal movable parts of the shower head. Inpractice it has been found that the frictional drag applied to thecontrol arm eventually wears out through repeated usage so that itbecomes difficult to maintain a set adjustment of the control arm of theshower head. In addition, this wear results in leakage around thetrunnion of the control arm.

In the present invention a shower head is provided having an externalcontrol member which does not employ a frictional drag having all of theabove-described inherent disadvantages, but employs a pressure balancingof the movable members within the shower head, so that there isvirtually no tendency to actuate the control arm in response to waterflow through the shower head regardless of the selected setting of thecontrol arm. The force produced by the water pressure employed as areverse bias is directly proportional and equal in magnitude to theforce produced by the pressure of the forward flow of water acting onthe movable member connected to the control handle so that both forcesremain counter-balanced over the entire range of line pressures. Sincethe forces acting on the control handle are counter balanced, nofrictional drag need be incorporated into its design.

The control handle will thus operate upon the application of very littlemanual force or finger touch control for any adjustment of pressure tothe shower head. Due to its ease of operation the control arm may bemoved to make any necessary adjustment of the spray nozzle by only onehand of the user without causing the entire shower head to swivel on itsball-joint coupling and become misdirected.

It is therefore an object according to the present invention to providean adjustable shower head mechanism having an adjustment handle which iscounterbalanced against the forces produced by the water pressure withinthe shower head when in use.

It is another object according to the present invention to provide ashower head which may be adjusted by fingertouch control to regulate theflow of water therethrough.

It is another object according to the invention to provide a shower headwhich is simple and decorative in design, easy to assemble, inexpensivein cost, and reliable in operation.

Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparentfrom the following detailed description considered in connection withthe accompanying drawings, which disclose the embodiments of the presentinvention. It should be understood, however, that the drawings aredesigned for the purpose of illustration only, and not as a definitionof the limits of the invention, as to which reference should be made tothe appended claims.

In the drawings wherein similar reference characters denote similarelements throughout the several views:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view slightly in elevation of the novel showerhead according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along section 2-2 through thecontrol handle of the shower head according to the invention;

FIG. 3 is a view taken along section 33 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged View illustrating the assembly of the shower headaccording to the invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown the shower head according to theinvention having a substantially cylindrical escutcheon 10 with acontrol handle 11 mounted thereagainst. The front of the shower headincludes a conicallyshaped skirt 14 which surrounds the outlet of theshower head. Concentrically disposed within the skirt is a centerdistributor 16. Skirt 14 also surrounds a face plate 33 concentricallydisposed around center distributor 16.

Referring now to FIGS. 2-4, the shower head according to the inventionis shown pivotably supported from ball joint 15. Ball joint 15 iscoupled to the threaded end of pipe 12. Resilient washer seats in arecess in ball joint 15, and provides an automatic regulation of themaximum flow to the shower head. Ball joint 15 customarily includes acoupling nut 60 which contains an internal helical thread having thesame diameter and pitch to correspond to an externally threaded flange69 defining the inlet at the top of the body of the shower head.

When coupling 60 is engaged to flange 69, it is customary to seat balljoint 15 on washer 82 contained within the inlet. A spring washer 83 isalso provided to maintain seat washer 82 against ball 15 in order toimpede the free pivoting of the shower head on ball joint 15. A setscrew 81 is engaged in coupling 60 against pipe 12 to lock the showerhead to ball joint 15.

Flange 69 is an integral portion of body member 25 which supports theinternally disposed moving parts of the shower head. Adjacent to thethreads at the top surface of body member 25 are a plurality of screws49 which hold the decoratively finished escutcheon 10 in a fixedposition surrounding body 25. Body 25 includes a main passageway 19which at its top is communicative to the flow of water from inlet pipe12 through ball joint 15. Mounted within body 25, and forming anintegral part thereof, is a vertical cylinder 23. Positioned withincylinder 23 is a balance piston having an annular O-ring 21 retainedwithin an annular slot 36 formed along the wall of piston 20. O-ring 21provides a sliding fluid seal between the piston and the internal wallsof cylinder 23.

At the top of piston 20 and forming an integral part therewith is avetrically projecting flange 37 which contains at its end an elongatedhorizontal slot 38. Piston 20 also includes a small through-hole 22communicative between its top and bottom surfaces. Moreover, piston 20also includes a plurality of drain holes 63 through its body anddisposed around flange 37.

Along the undersurface of piston 20 is contained an internal helicalthread 41 which corresponds in diameter and pitch to an external helicalthread disposed at the end of a vertical cylindrical projection of ashower director 18. The lower comically-shaped flange portion of showerdirector 18 contains a plurality of flutes formed longitudinally alongits external surface completely around its periphery. Moreover, thevertical guide angle to which flutes 30 approach the opening of showerdirector 18 is relieved by a flush angle 42 adjacent to its mid-portion.

Looking upward from the bottom of shower director 18 there are disposeda plurality of integral supporting webs 43 between center aperture 44and the rim containing flutes 30. Webs 43 provide additional strength tothe rim of shower director 18 to counteract compressive forces which acton flutes 30 during the operation of the shower head. Disposedconcentrically around aperture is an external thread 44 for receiving alocking nut 45 having a corresponding internal thread.

A center distributor 16, mounted coaxially within shower director 18,contains a plurality of flutes 28 on the periphery of its downwardlyprojecting shank. On the periphery of the upper portion of centerdistributor 16 are a plurality of legs 29 which terminate in a steptoward the mid-portion of the distributor. Step 50 serves as a retainingsurface for receiving one end of spring 26.

During a part of the assembly of the shower head spring 26 is fittedover center distributor 16 until it engages step 50. Spring 26 has adiameter slightly larger than aperture 40 of shower director 18 so thatwhen distributor 16 is coaxially mounted therethrough, the opposite endof spring 26 will shoulder around aperture 44} within director 18. Theassembly contained within director 18 is then threadably engaged tobalance piston 28 so that the compressional force of spring 26 will urgedistributor 16 against the internal surface of balance piston 20. Bydesign, flutes 28 on the periphery of distributor 16 engage the innerwalls and partially close off aperture 48.

Control handle 11 engages a cam shaft 24 at its end through acorresponding keyway 31. Cam shaft 24 includes in its mid-portion anenlarged cylindrically-shaped retaining flange 13 having an annulargroove 70 radially disposed in its periphery to receive an O-ring 47. Anend cap 67 having a center bearing surface for pivotably supporting camshaft 24 is threadably engage to body 25 so as to abut slidably againstflange 13 to prevent longitudinal translation of shaft 24. Handle 11 isalso retained to the end of carn shaft 24 by means of set screw 65threadbly engaged through the axis of keyway 31. A decorative plug 27 ispress-fitted into the screw opening of handle 11 in order to hide thescrew 65 and enhance the appearance of the handle.

O-ring 47 serves as fluid seal to prevent water leakage from theconnection of handle 11 in body 25. The fluid in contact with O-ring 47provides a sufficient amount of lubrication to minimize any inherentfrictional drag so that handle 11 may rotate cam 24 upon finger-touchcontrol. Secured on camming surface 71 of cam 24 is an eccentric pin 46.Pin 46 extends sufliciently from camming surface 61 to pivotably engageslot 38 at the end of flange 37 on piston 20. The combination of the camengaged 4 to the flange portion of piston 20 forms a slotted yoke drivefor converting the rotational motion of handle 11 into a verticallyreciprocating motion of piston 20 with respect to cylinder 23.

Surrounding the bottom opening of body 25 is a downwardly projectingcylindrical flange 66 having an external thread for receiving andsecuring skirt 14 thereto. In the assembly of skirt 14 to body 25, adirector ring 17, having a downwardly projecting tapered flange, iinserted concentrically around shower director 18 and against the baseof body 25. Director ring 17 is constructed from a resilient material sothat its downwardly directed tapered flange surface is resiliently urgedagainst flutes 30 of director 18. Director ring 17 is held in placesecurely against the base of body 25 by the rim of the internal wall ofskirt 14. The base of director ring 17 is made sufliciently thick sothat the tightening of skirt 14 onto threaded flange 66 will cause aslight compression of the base of ring 17 simultaneous with the fulltightening of skirt 14 against flange 66.

A disc-shaped face plate 33 having a concentrically disposed flangeportion 34 is threadably engaged to shaft 44 of director 18. Theappearance of the face plate 33 is enhanced with a chemically etcheddecorative motif that can be seen in FIG. 1.

The dynamic operation of the shower head according to the invention isas follows: a

When water under pressure is fed from feed pipe 12 through ball joint 15into channel 19, it divides into two directions at the base of showerhead within body 25.

Since director 18 serves as a fluid obstruction across the outlet ofbody 25, the pressure of the water in channel 19 against the base ofdirector 18 tends to urge the assembly of the director and piston 20downward to further open the nozzles of the shower. To counteract thistendency, the water under pressure is made accessible to the undersideof balance piston 20 so that the pressure thereagainst simultaneouslyurges the cylinder assembly upwards to counteract the downward force.The effective surfaces of both the underside of piston 20 and the baseof director 18 are constructed approximately equal so that the forcesproduced by the pressure of the water in channel 19 are substantiallyequal and opposite in direction and therefore counter-balanced. Thus theresultant force produced by the pressure acting upon the nozzle assemblyof the shower head according to the invention will remain substantiallyequal to zero throughout the entire range of line pressures applied tothe shower head. Since these forces are substantially counter-balanced,it is possible to make adjustments of the opening of the nozzle by onlylightly touching control arm 11. Unlike conventional shower heads noself-induced frictional drag is provided in the control of the nozzleopening so as to impede any adjustments that may be required.

A portion of the water in contact with the underside of piston 20 flowsthrough aperture 22 to the top side of the piston and provideslubrication to O-ring 21 Within cylinder 23. In order to prevent thepressure from building up to any great extent on the top side of piston20 a plurality of drain holes 63 adjacent to center flange 37 of piston20 permit the Water to drain into the center cavity of director 18 andto pass out between flutes 28 of distributor 16 as part of the centerspray of the shower head. In addition, center distributor 16 is held inits upward position with a relatively light spring 26, and a relativelysmall pressure above piston 20 and in the chamber containing spring 26in shower director 18 causes the center distributor 16 to move downwardwhich progressively increases the area for fluid to escape at the flutedperiphery of center distributor 16.

The rotation of handle 11 will cause the entire nozzle assemblycomprising director 18 and piston 20 to move upwardly or downwardly andthus decrease or increase respectively the opening of the nozzle formedby director ring 17 and flutes 30. When piston 20 is in its uppermostposition (as shown) so that the nozzle opening is almost completelyobstructed, the shower head produces a highvelocity, needle-like spray.

As the nozzle is opened by the downward movement of its assembly (asshown by the dotted line sgement) the angularly relieved portion 42 offlutes 30 will come into contact with director ring 17 and will providea significantly increased opening of the nozzle over the remainingportion of the displacement of the assembly. This relief in the guideangle of flutes 30 permits any foreign particles which become entrappedbetween the flutes to be flushed out by the large volume of waterflowing through the nozzle.

While only a single embodiment of the present invention has been shownand described, it will be understood that many changes and modificationsmay be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

What is claimed is:

1. An adjustable shower head for the distribution of liquids comprising:

a hollow body member,

an inlet at the top of said body member for the introduction of a liquidunder pressure,

an outlet at the other end of said body member,

obstruction means disposed a cross said outlet for obstructing the flowof liquid therethrough,

a fluid control coupled to said obstruction means and having a portionexternally accessible from said body wherein said obstruction means canbe moved with respect to said body member for adjusting in the spray ofliquid leaving said outlet, and

pressure means coupled to said obstruction means and responsive to thepressure of said liquid within said body member for providing a force onsaid obstruction means substantially equal in magnitude and oppositelydirected to the force resulting from the pressure of the liquid againstthe obstruction means.

2. The shower head as recited in claim 1 wherein said outlet includes aresilient ring, said ring having a depending flange portion surroundingsaid obstruction means.

3. The shower head as recited in claim 2 wherein said obstruction meanscomprises a fluid director having a plurality of flutes communicative tothe outlet of said shower head, said flutes being urged in slidingcontact against the depending flange portion of said ring.

4. The shower head as recited in claim 3 wherein said pressure meanscomprises a cylinder having a first end communicative to the pressure ofsaid liquid and a second end substantially communicative to theatmosphere, a piston slidably engaged to the inner walls of saidcylinder, said piston being secured to said director at the first end ofsaid cylinder and secured to said fluid control at the second end ofsaid cylinder.

5. The shower head as recited in claim 4 wherein said piston includes anannular slot within the walls thereof, a resilient O-ring disposedwithin said slot and in compression with the walls of said cylinder, anda restricted aperture in said piston for communicating a portion of theliquid from said first end to said second end of said cylinder tolubricate said piston.

6. The shower head as recited in claim 5 wherein said fluid controlcomprises;

a handle pivotably mounted through said body member and accesibleexternally thereof,

a cam shaft having an eccentric pin mounted thereon,

a flange bracket secured to said piston and extending through the secondend of said cylinder, said bracket having an elongated slot at its endextending transversely thereof, said pin engaging said slot to transform(to translate) the rotational movement of said handle into reciprocatingmovement of said piston with respect to said cylinder and therebydisplace said director across the outlet of said shower head.

7. The shower head as recited in claim 6 wherein said director includesa centrally disposed cavity.

8. The shower head as recited in claim 6 additionally comprising meanscommunicative to the second end of said cylinder for draining the liquidcollected therein into said director cavity.

9. The shower head as recited in claim 8 wherein said directoradditionally comprises a spray distributor coaxially disposed in saiddirector, for distributing said liquid therecollected in the form of aspray.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,676,058 4/1954 Hansen 239-1092,795,462 6/ 1957 Bletcher et a1. 239460 M. HENSON WOOD, JR., PrimaryExaminer M. Y. MAR, Assistant Examiner

